so what exactly is the fiscal cliff? it is a nightmare combination of tax hikes and spending cuts that congress and the president agreed to. to force themselves into a compromise. but so far, they have not agreed on anything. so barring a last-minute fix at the stroke of midnight on new year's eve, the bush tax cuts expire. the alternative minimum tax kicks in. more than half of all married couples with two children would owe an additional $4,000 in taxes per year, for those with three children or more, that jumps to $4700, on top of that, the payroll tax cut would expire. so add on a 2% tax increase for most workers, with automatic spending cuts in a thousand government programs, including defense, medicare, extended unemployment benefits. everything but veteran's benefits and social security, pensions. congress says that action would act as a break on the economy, throwing it back into recession and could cause a market crash. >> people watching very closely is can the administration actually tackle those fiscal issues